Business

(PROVIDENCE, RI) Providence Business News Editor Mark Murphy joins Rhode Island Public Radio's Dave Fallon for a weekly business segment we're calling "The Bottom Line." Each Friday it looks at business news and themes that affect local business and the public.

(PROVIDENCE, RI) It was a busy year in the Ocean State, and Rhode Island Public Radio’s counting down the ten biggest stories of 2012. Topping the list – is the implosion of the 38 Studios deal.

(PROVIDENCE, RI)
The State Department of Labor and Training says a malfunctioning telephone system may have allowed the unauthorized sharing of some clients’ personal information, including social security numbers. The problem happened Christmas Eve. A departmental review shows up to 700 people’s information may have been compromised. The department is notifying all customers who may have been impacted and is providing them with free credit monitoring services for three months.

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There is some good news for Rhode Island’s housing market.  The Rhode Island Association of Realtors reports that single family home sales increased by 43% last month as compared to a year ago.  The median price of 195-thousand-dollars is 1% higher than November 2011.  
November’s numbers also show an even balance between the supply of houses for sale and the number of potential buyers according to the RIAR.  

The popularity of Farmers Markets in Rhode Island is growing and you can find them during the winter months, in addition to summer months.  Chief of the Division of Agriculture of the Department of Environmental Management, Ken Ayers says the markets move indoors during the cold weather.  
Ayers says Farmers Markets are important to local farms.